Homeless man found dead was one of dozens living in woods

Police officer worries numbers will increase

It was below 20 degrees the night Valentin Del Cid, a homeless man, died in the woods near Veirs Mill Road last week.

Police said he probably died of exposure to the elements.

Now his wife, Sandra, the mother of his three daughters, said the family does not have enough money to bury her estranged husband.

"Yes, it's a tragedy," she said with a thick Spanish accent. "Now we're just trying to get help."

An official report from the State Medical Examiner in Baltimore is forthcoming, but a Montgomery County Police spokeswoman said Del Cid, 40, of no fixed address, probably froze to death while camping in an area where many homeless people congregate.

Police ruled out foul play as the cause of death.

Del Cid's body was found Thursday morning about 20 yards into the woods near the eastbound lanes of Veirs Mill, just east of Twinbrook Parkway in Rockville.

Carlos Fernandez found the man as he looked for homeless people in the woods as part of an outreach ministry.

Fernandez operates the Human Restoration Project, a program which works to feed the homeless and get them jobs so they can get off the streets.

Del Cid, a carpenter and handyman, was one of the first men the program helped.

"We started in January [2008] and by March [Del Cid] had a job and was out of the woods," Fernandez said.

But in the difficult economic climate, work dried up for Del Cid, and he was forced to move back into the woods, Fernandez said.

Officer Boris Pallominy, the Montgomery County Police Department's 1st District Hispanic liaison, said the number of homeless people in and around Rockville, especially those of Latin American and Hispanic descent, is growing.

When the weather is warmer, many of them set up camp in the densely wooded area where Del Cid was found dead, he said. In the colder months, many seek warmth at night in elevator shafts or large traffic bins outside of shopping centers.

Pallominy said there is a group of about 35 to 50 Latin American and Hispanic people who are homeless in the Rockville area.

"The reason why they're homeless is because they don't have jobs, they don't have a home, don't have family here, don't speak the language, or don't know how to reach out to get help from organizations," Pallominy said.

Many times they are homeless because they have an alcohol problem, which Pallominy said he sees often in the Hispanic homeless community. The recession has put many of those who are homeless out of work because construction and landscaping jobs are becoming harder to find.

"It's only a matter of time" before the homeless population increases to the point where people begin sleeping on the streets in downtown Rockville, Pallominy said.

Pallominy could not answer questions specific to the investigation into Del Cid's death, referring to county detectives.

"A lot of people don't want to go to shelters, I don't know why," Fernandez said. "They think three months of winter isn't bad, but this shows three months of winter can kill you."

Sandra Del Cid agreed, warning, "This could happen again if nothing is done."